Physical Science

Metals are located on the left and middle sections of the periodic table. Group IA and IIA are the alkali metals and are the most active, while the transition elements found in Groups IB to VIIIB are less active, but…
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The Noble Gases form Group 18 of the Periodic Table of elements. Older American textbooks call this group VIIIA while in the older European convention it was group VIIIB or group 0.  Group 18 is the preferred International Union for…
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Children love to learn, it is human instinct to crave new information, and we as adults have a duty to teach them. Learning does not have to be a boring experience, in fact we can make it quite an enjoyable…
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Prior to 1932, the accepted model of the atom was that it contained only positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons.. Physicist Sir James Chadwick had noticed a discrepancy between the atomic numbers of atoms and the atomic weight. For…
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While every element on the periodic table has a unique atomic structure, similarities in these structures yield elements with similar attributes. Most of these attributes are linked to the atomic orbital formation within them. In this introduction, I’m going to…
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Clay is useful because it changes. It is plastic and malleable when wet and a potter can shape it to his or her need. After one or two firings, the clay is hard, waterproof, and inflexible. Major types of clay…
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Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen are the main elements found inside the human body. I find it amazing that 63% of the human body is composed of just one element: oxygen. Perhaps this should not be surprising, since a lot…
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Temperature is measured by the property of liquid expanding when it gets warmer (and contracting when it gets cooler). The original thermometers used mercury (a liquid metal), but since mercury has been discovered to be toxic, alcohol with a red…
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Helium is an element that is fairly common but often overlooked. It’s found in the air all over the world but primarily comes from natural gas deposits. It is a clear gas that is lighter than air. It was discovered…
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Electroplating is a widely used technique to deposit a layer of a first metal on an object made of a second metal.  The discovery of the Parthian batteries suggests that electroplating may have been developed some 1500 years ago in…
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